Dear Reader,

I am delighted to introduce myself to you as the new editor of The Chronicle.

I have recently been appointed regional newspaper editor of Buckinghamshire and Berkshire, taking over the helm from my predecessor Andrew Colley, who is now editing the Oxford Mail.

As a Berkshire girl who grew up watching the Royals playing at the Madejski - sorry, the Select Car Leasing Stadium - this is something of a homecoming for me.

Having worked as a journalist and editor in Devon, London and most recently, Hampshire, here I am, back where I started, covering a corner of the country I know very well.

Community and a sense of familiarity has become all the more important in the past two years as coronavirus stopped our routines in their tracks and made our world much smaller.

As we rebuild ourselves, our businesses and our towns, I pledge that as your new editor, I will be on hand to provide a platform to all in the community to showcase your successes, share your views and stories and celebrate all the good that is happening locally.

And of course, we will be there in the tough times too. The importance of trusted, local journalism has never been more vital than in this era of fake news.

Whether it is asking difficult questions of the council, challenging those in positions of power is a vital role of a local newspaper. The Chronicle will continue to be a campaigner on behalf of everyone in the county and won’t shy away from holding authorities to account for the decisions they make.

Just before Christmas, we renewed our efforts to save Reading Gaol from redevelopment - we will continue to put pressure on the Ministry of Justice to see that this piece of the town’s history is safeguarded.

We want to make sure the community is represented in these pages - week in and week out.

In an age of social media where anyone is a publisher, we need strong and robust local papers such as my titles to separate fact from fiction and to provide safe, reliable updates that you can trust.

That is why one of my key objectives for 2022 is to build and grow our website that covers Reading. If you haven’t already, I would invite you to follow our account on Facebook and subscribe to readingchronicle.co.uk to ensure you stay up-to-date with what is happening.

If you have a story, an event to promote or you simply want to get in touch, I would love to hear from you. Please do feel free reach out anytime.

I feel privileged to be your new editor and I am looking forward to meeting as many people in the community as I can.

Katie French

katie.french@newsquest.co.uk